The Vatican Information Service is a news service, founded in the Holy See Press Office, that provides information about the Magisterium and the pastoral activities of the Holy Father and the Roman Curia...[+]

Vatican City, 31 May 2015 (VIS) –
During the Holy Trinity Sunday Angelus, Pope Francis explained to the
faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square that “the Trinity is …
the mystery of the love of the living God. … Jesus revealed this
mystery to us. And when, resurrected, he sent the disciples to
evangelise the people, he told them to baptise them 'in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit'”.

“Therefore, today's liturgical
solemnity, while it makes us contemplate the wonderful mystery from
which we come and to which we are going, also makes us renew our
mission to live in communion with God and to live in communion with
each other, based on the model of divine communion. We are required
to live not without others, or above and against others, but with
others, for others, and in others. This means welcoming and bearing
witness to the beauty of the Gospel together. … In a word” added
Francis, “we have been entrusted the task of building up the
ecclesial community so that it is increasingly a family, able to
reflect the splendour of the Trinity and to evangelise not only
through words, but also with the strength of God's love that abides
in us”.

The Trinity is also “the final
objective of our earthly pilgrimage. … Therefore, we seek to
maintain the 'high tone' of our life, recalling the reason and the
glory for which we exist, work, struggle and suffer; and the immense
reward to which we are called”. The mystery of the Trinity
“embraces all of our life and all our Christian being. We remember
it, for example, every time we make the sign of the Cross: in the
name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”, said the
Holy Father, inviting the thousands of faithful present in St.
Peter's Square to make the sign of the Cross with him.

Then, on the final day of the month of
May, he commended all those present to the Virgin Mary. “May She,
who more than any other creature … knew the mystery of the Most
Holy Trinity, take us by the hand and guide us. … Let us also ask
Her to help the Church, so that she might be a mystery of communion,
a hospitable community where every person, especially the poor and
marginalised, may find welcome and feel like a daughter of God,
wanted and loved”.

After the Marian prayer, the Pope
mentioned that today in Bayonne, France, the priest Louis-Edouard
Cestac, co-founder of the Servants of Mary, was declared blessed.
“His witness of love for God and neighbour inspires the Church to
live the Gospel of charity with joy”.

Finally, he invited all those who meet
in Rome on 4 June, festivity of Corpus Christi, to attend the Mass to
be celebrated in the Basilica of St. John Lateran and to participate
in the procession to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, “a solemn
public act of faith and love for Jesus-Eucharist, present in the
midst of His people”.

“Before coming to an end, let us once
more make the sign of the Cross, saying aloud, as one, 'In the name
of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit'”, recalling the
mystery of the Holy Trinity”, he concluded.

Vatican City, 1 June 2015 (VIS) – The
programme of the Holy Father's pastoral visit to Turin, Italy on 21
and 22 June, on the occasion of the extraordinary exposition of the
Turin Shroud, was published today.

The Pope will leave by air from Rome's
Ciampino airport at 6.30 a.m. on Sunday 21 June, arriving in Turin's
Caselle airport an hour later. Upon arrival, he will be greeted by
the Archbishop of Turin, Cesare Nosiglia, Sergio Chiamparino,
president of the Piedmont region, Paola Basilone, prefect of Turin,
and Piero Fassino, mayor of the city. He will transfer by car to
Piazzetta Reale, where he will address representatives of the world
of work.

At 9.15 a.m. the Holy Father will then
enter the Cathedral on foot, where he will pray before the Holy
Shroud and visit the altar of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, in the
presence of the cloistered nuns and priests residing in clergy houses
in the diocese, the Chapter of canons, the Commission for the Holy
Shroud, relatives of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, Cardinal Severino
Poletto, archbishop emeritus of Turin, and the bishops of the
episcopal conference of Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta.

He will then transfer to Piazza
Vittorio where he will concelebrate Holy Mass, pronounce a homily and
pray the Angelus. Following the celebration he will proceed to the
archbishop's residence by car, where he will lunch with detainees
from the “Ferrante Aporti” detention centre for minors, some
immigrants and a Rom family. This will be followed by a visit to the
Shrine of the Consolata where he will pray privately with the priests
of the community.

At 3 p.m. he will meet with the
Salesians and the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians in the
basilica of the same name. He will then travel by car to the church
of Cottolengo, where he will address the sick and disabled faithful.
At 5.30 p.m. he will return to Piazza Vittorio to meet with young
people, and will retire to the archbishop's residence where he will
spend the night.

On Monday 22 at 9 a.m. Francis will
visit the Waldensian Temple where he will be received by the pastors
and the president of the consistory of the Evangelical Waldensian
Church, and will give an address. At 10.15 he will attend a strictly
private meeting with some members of his family (the Pope's family
originates from the Italian region of Piedmont) in the archbishop's
residence, for whom he will celebrate Mass, and with whom he will
lunch.

Before leaving the archbishop's
residence, the Pope will meet the members of the Committee for the
Exposition of the Shroud and the organisers of the event. At 5 p.m.
He will leave for Caselle airport, and will be greeted on the way by
the young people of “Estate Ragazzi”. Half an hour later he will
depart by air for Rome, where he is expected to arrive at 6.30 p.m.

Vatican City, 30 May 2015 (VIS) –
This morning in the Sala Clementina Pope Francis received in audience
the participants in the conference “What science for what life?”,
organised by the Science and Life Association, which concluded yesterday in Rome.

“Your service in favour of the human
person is important and encouraging”, remarked the Holy Father.
“Indeed, protection of life represents a fundamental task,
especially in a society afflicted by the negative throwaway logic. …
To protect the person, you place two essential actions at the centre:
reaching out to encounter, and encountering to support”.

“Christ's love drives us to become
servants of the youngest and the elderly, of every man and woman, for
whom the primordial right to life must be recognised and protected”,
he continued. “The existence of the human person, to whom you
dedicate your care, is also your constitutive principle; it is life
in its unfathomable depth that is at the origin of and accompanies
all scientific progress; it is the miracle of life that always
challenges any form of scientific presumption, restoring primacy to
wonder and beauty. … We reassert that a just society recognises the
primacy of the right to life from conception to natural end. However,
I would like us to go beyond this, and to think carefully about the
time that joins the beginning to the end. Therefore, recognising the
inestimable value of human life, we must also reflect on the use we
make of it”.

Francis emphasised that the measure of
the progress of a civilisation is “its capacity to protect life,
especially in its most fragile phases, rather than the spread of
technological tools. When we speak about man, we must never forget
all the assaults on the sacredness of human life. The scourge of
abortion is an assault on life. Leaving our brothers to die on boats
in the Sicilian straits is an assault on life. Death at work due to a
failure to respect the minimum safety requirements is an assault on
life. Death due to hunger is an assault on life. Terrorism, war,
violence are all assaults on life, as is is euthanasia”.

“I encourage you to relaunch a
culture of life, that knows how to establish networks of trust and
reciprocity, and how to offer prospects of peace, mercy and
communion”, he concluded.

Vatican City, 1 June 2015 (VIS) -
“Never stop dreaming … You can fly with your dreams, and dreaming
opens the doors to happiness”; said Pope Francis to the six hundred
children on the “Children's Train”, an initiative of the
Courtyard of the Gentiles in support of children who live in
difficult situations. This year it was dedicated to the children of
detainees in the Italian penitentiaries of Roma, Civitavecchia,
Latina, Bari and Trani, on the theme “Flight”.

The train, on which two-hundred
children travelled from Bari and Trani, arrived at the Vatican
railway station, where they joined those already present from the
other three provinces. Upon arrival they were welcomed by Cardinal
Giuseppe Bertello, president of the Governorate of Vatican City
State, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical
Council for Culture and Michele Mario Elia, director of Ferrovie
dello Stato Italiane SpA, the Italian rail network infrastructure
company.

The Holy Father met with the passengers
of the train in the Paul VI Hall, and spoke with them on the theme of
flight, inviting them to fly with their imagination to be with their
families and to fulfil their dreams.

Vatican City, 30 May 2015 (VIS) –
Yesterday afternoon, in the Chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae, the
Pope received in audience a group of twenty seriously ill children,
accompanied by their parents, along with volunteers and leaders from
the UNITALSI association, which organises pilgrimages to Lourdes and
Loreto. The majority of the children were aged between seven and 14
years, although there were also some as young as two and three.

The Pope approached each child
affectionately. One of the children then spoke to the Holy Father
about a similar previous meeting two years ago, recalling all those
who had been present and some who have passed away in the meantime,
and assured him that they have all prayed a lot for the Pope, as he
had asked them too.

The Holy Father went on to speak about
the mystery of the suffering of children. “It is a question I often
ask myself, and which many of you, many people, ask themselves: why
do children suffer? And there are no explanations. … I simply look
to God and ask, 'But why?'. And looking at the Cross: 'Why is Your
Son there, why?' It is the mystery of the Cross. … I also often
think of the Virgin when as they brought her the lifeless body of her
Son. … She did not understand either. She would have recalled what
the Angel had told her: 'He will be King, He will be great, He will
be a prophet'. With that wounded body in her arms, that had suffered
so greatly before death, she would surely have wanted to say to the
Angel: 'Liar! I have been deceived'. She had no answers either”.

“Do not be afraid of asking, indeed
even challenging the Lord. 'Why?'”, he exclaimed. “Perhaps no
explanation will come, but the gaze of the Father will give you the
strength to go on. … The only explanation He will be able to give
you is: 'My son suffered too'. This is the explanation. The most
important is his gaze. This is your strength, the loving gaze of the
Father”.

“In a world in which it is so normal
to experience a throwaway culture – if we are not happy with
something we discard it – you live this situation … with heroism.
… You are the little heroes of life. I thank you for your example”,
affirmed the Pope, visibly moved. “I pray for you, for these mixed
feelings of joy and sadness. … The Lord knows how to comfort you in
your suffering in a special way”.

Those present then prayed a Hail Mary
and received the Pope's blessing. He continued the meeting by talking
with each child and their parents. The group left the Domus Sanctae
Marthae at 6 p.m.

Vatican City, 1 June 2015 (VIS) – In
response to questions from journalists, the director of the Holy See
Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., explained that the
statement made by Mr. Peter Saunders (one of the 17 members of the
Commission for the Protection of Minors) during a television
broadcast was evidently given in an entirely personal way and not on
behalf of the Commission, which is not competent to investigate or to
pronounce specific judgements on individual cases.

Moreover, Cardinal George Pell has
always responded carefully and thoroughly to the accusations and
questions posed by the competent Australian authorities, and his
position has been made known again in recent days by a public
declaration on his part, which must be considered reliable and worthy
of respect and attention.

- Rev. Fr. Eugene Joseph as bishop of
Varanasi (area 21,296, population 21,165,000, Catholics 19,536,
priests 154, religious 675), India. The bishop-elect was born in
Madurai, India in 1958 and ordained a priest in 1985. He holds a
bachelor's degree in education from the Gorakhpur University,
Varanasi; a master's degree in English from the Mahatma Gandhi K.V.
University, Varanasi, and a masters in business administration from
the Townsend School of Business, New York, U.S.A.